Two men are due to go on trial in Belfast accused of the first murder of a serving Police Service of Northern Ireland officer.

John Paul Wooton and Brendan McConville are charged with the murder of Constable Stephen Carroll in Craigavon in March 2009.

The Continuity IRA admitted responsibility for the murder, which occurred 48 hours after the Real IRA shot two soldiers outside an army base in Antrim.

Carroll, 48, was sitting in the driver's seat of his patrol car and was nearing the end of a 12-hour shift. He was the first police officer killed in Northern Ireland since the Royal Ulster Constabulary became the Police Service of Northern Ireland in 2001.

McConville, 40, a former Sinn Féin councillor, and 20-year-old Wootton are also charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition.